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Sunday, October 21, 2012

Published: October 12, 2012
Updated: October 12, 2012 - 1:20 PM

Romney: 'Virginia's going to get me the White House'

By Wesley P. Hester Times-Dispatch Staff

GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney, campaigning today in Chesterfield County, declared that "Virginia's going to get me the White House."
"This country's coming back," Romney said at Mobility Supercenter, a company that outfits homes and cars for wheelchair users.
"Thanks to you, we're going to win in November, Virginia's going to get me the White House and we're taking back America."
Romney campaigned in Chesterfield four days after his wife, Ann, made two appearances in Chester. Vice President Joe Biden campaigned in Chesterfield Sept. 21. Republican John McCain carried the county by 12,000 votes in 2008.
"There's another great Virginia welcome," said Romney, standing in front of a backdrop that said "Real Recovery".
Instead of "four more years," Romney said: "our cheer is 'four more weeks.' "
Referring to Thursday's vice presidential debate in Kentucky, Romney said his running mate, Paul Ryan, was poised and respectful. Romney charged that Vice President Joe Biden was on the attack.
"The American people are looking for answers, not attacks," Romney said.
Romney said 23 million Americans are out of work.
"This is not just something that is a statistic," he said. "These are real families. These are people with a real life and are concerned about their future.
"That's why Paul Ryan and I care about each and every American that's out of work and we're going to do everything in our power to get Americans back to work again," he said.
"The vice president defends the status quo. We're going to fix the status quo to make things better."
Romney said that in the debate the vice president "directly contradicted the sworn testimony of State Department officials" regarding the sequence of events leading to the Sept. 11 slaying of U.S. Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans in Libya.
In response, Lis Smith, a spokeswoman for the Obama campaign, referred to Romney's videotaped comments at a fundraiser.
“Speaking behind closed doors, Mitt Romney promised his wealthy donors that he’d use an international crisis to win votes if one were to occur, so Mitt Romney’s continued politicization of the events in Libya comes as no surprise," Smith said.
"As Secretary Clinton said today, the president and his administration have been focused on getting the facts about what happened in Libya, finding the terrorists responsible, and bringing them to justice. But Mitt Romney has repeatedly rushed to launch political attacks without knowing all the facts.
"This is the same candidate who took multiple positions on whether we should take action in Libya in the first place. And he’s done it while failing to detail policies toward any region of the world, including how to end the war in Afghanistan. The American people deserve more from someone who wants to be commander-in-chief,” Smith said.
In Chesterfield, Romney also referred to his comments about PBS at the Oct. 3 presidential debate in Denver. Romney had said that he likes Big Bird, but that American taxpayers should not have to support PBS.
With a record 47 million people on food stamps and one in six Americans living in poverty, the president's campaign "has been focusing on saving Big Bird," Romney said.
"My campaign is going to focus on saving the American family and getting us good jobs and rising incomes again."
Romney reiterated his pledges to restore America's miltary budget and to work to repeal the health care overhaul.
Gov. Bob McDonnell, who introduced Romney, said the GOP nominee would avert the "devastating" looming defense cuts through the process known as sequestration.
"We'd be in a heck of a lot better shape if we had a president, Mitt Romney, who understands jobs and free enterprise, in the White House," McDonnell said.
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and Rep. J. Randy Forbes also were present.

(This has been a breaking news update.)
More than a thousand people have gathered at Mobility Supercenter, a company that outfits homes and cars for wheelchair users, to see GOP presidential nominee Mitt Romney is less than an hour.

Country singer Jett Williams, daughter of Hank Williams, is warming the crowd up in the parking lot behind the business.

Ann Romney was also in Chesterfield this week, making tow stops at Chester Village Green on Monday. Her husband was also in Virginia Monday, delivering a foreign policy speech at Virginia Military Institute.

Michelle Obama campaigned in Leesburg the following day.

Romney's visit comes in the aftermath of two new polls -- one that records a statistically insignificant lead over President Barack Obama, and the other that shows the Democrat with a narrow lead.
(This has been a breaking news update. Check back for more details as they become available. Read more in tomorrow's Richmond Times-Dispatch.)

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Credit: P. KEVIN MORLEY/TIMES-DISPATCH

Mitt Romney greeted supporters in a rally at a Chesterfield County business...